Editorial

Abstract

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. In a comment published by Fitch Ratings in February 2021, low public awareness and lack of confidence in the Sharīʿah compliance of Islamic finance products were highlighted as the key challenges for the future growth of the Islamic finance industry. These challenges are found to be most prominent in least developed Islamic finance markets, contributing to low demand and the prevalence of a negligible Islamic finance industry.

Knowledge sharing and dissemination of information on the industry’s practices are important building blocks in creating public awareness on Islamic finance. According to the ICD-REFINITIV Islamic Finance Development Report 2020, Southeast Asia maintains a lead in Islamic finance education and research – key components through which Islamic finance knowledge is assessed. Indonesia hosts the largest number of Islamic finance education providers, including those institutions which offer degree courses. In 2019, Malaysia produced the highest number of research papers on Islamic finance and featured among the top countries which are most discussed in Islamic finance research articles. Even at the level of ISRA International Journal of Islamic Finance, a large number of article submissions come from authors affiliated to Malaysian institutions, and they tend to discuss Islamic finance issues related to the Malaysian context. It is therefore through proactive efforts – not only related to Islamic finance knowledge but also in various other aspects – that countries such as Malaysia are advancing developments in the industry, and Indonesia is growing its Islamic finance market share.